Works in Progress

Right now I have two projects on the needles that are still WIP and not UFO.

I started the Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf from Churchmouse Yarns.  I'm using two skeins of Koigu Yarn and one of Claudia's Handpainted yarn.  All of those yarns are from Yarn Paradise in Asheville and can be seen in this post.  The person who was helping me at the yarn store pointed the pattern out for me and helped me pick the colors.  I might be about halfway through -- it is knit horizontally.

 I have also started another pair of socks.  This pair is knit with Knitpicks Stroll Tonal Yarn in Deep Waters.  I am using a pattern from Socks That Rock, but, having learned lessons from the Emmaus Rainbow socks, went down in needle size to US size 1 and cast on 72 stitches.  The pattern calls for 60, but that didn't seem to be enough.  I love the color of the yarn, and I like this fabric much better.

See the mouse in the last picture?  She's knitting.  I bought her at Yankee Candle.  It seemed appropriate to include her in a post that talks about Churchmouse yarns.

Emmaus Rainbow Socks

Steve was an ALD on an Emmaus walk in March and at the end of March, beginning of April, I served as an LDIT.  I knew that I would be serving in the background on Steve's walk (which would mean some sitting time) and that my position of a lay director in training meant that I would be observing the entire three day walk.  It sounded like a portable knitting project would be ideal.

I decided on socks, and picked up my recently purchased Knitpicks Felici in Rainbow -- socks were off and running (excuse the pun).  I started them the day the men's walk started and finished them the day the women's walk ended (a little more than two weeks).

Rainbow seemed appropriate since it is one of the symbols associated with an Emmaus Walk.

Pattern:  The Yarn Harlot's "Good Plain Sock" from her book Knitting Rules (that's a Ravelry link).

Needles:  I used double pointed, US size 1.5.  I felt the entire time I was knitting that the needles were too large for the yarn and the fabric was too loosely knit.  I didn't change.  I'll probably regret that, but the socks are very soft.

Yarn:  Two skeins of Knitpicks Felici Rainbow.  I worked with the yarn so that I started at the same point of each skein in the color changes.  The socks are almost identical.

Pickets Baby Blanket

Yes, it has been a long time since I posted.  I have been knitting, but I haven't been knit-blogging.  I'll catch up.  I think I'll start with the biggest project I've been working on and have just finished.

A young couple at our church was expecting a baby, and I decided to knit a blanket.  We knew she was a she, so pink came to mind, but I worried I would get bored too soon to finish it.  The mother and I share the Emmaus experience in common, and a rainbow seemed a great way to portray that connection and to remind the family of God's promises.  The day after I decided to knit in rainbow colors, I found the Picket baby blanket pattern on Knitpicks.  It seemed perfect.

Each stripe is knit separately and then sewn together.  The knitting went rather fast -- it makes a great portable project, since it is knit in stripes.  I discovered, though, that I hate HATE seaming.  It is not portable, and I am not good at it. 

Last weekend, I made myself spend several hours finishing it so that I could give it to the family before the (now born) baby girl went to college.

Pattern:  Pickets baby blanket from Knitpicks.  Knitpicks no longer carries all of the yarn called for in the pattern.  I substituted bark for merlot heather, peapod for lemongrass heather, and bought the suggested moss to substitute for pampas heather.  The pattern calls for 11 stripes.  I ended up with 10 because I just do not like the moss at all. 

Needles:  US size 5, circular needles from Knitpicks.  My row gauge was very much off, but I think this is a pattern problem.  I do knit loosely, but each stripe calls for 248 rows to create a stripe (without the points) that is 34 inches long from point to point or about 30 inches not counting the points.  That would be a row gauge of 33 rows = 4 inches.  That pattern calls for a row gauge of 18 rows = 4 inches.  It could be that there are 18 garter stitch ridges per 4 inches.  That math comes out about right.  I decided I would just knit the 248 rows, which came out at about the right length.  It is a blanket, after all.

Yarn:  10 colors of Knitpicks Swish DK including seven heathers:  amethyst, marble, garnet, persimmon, grain, tidepool, forest and delft plus two non-heathers -- bark and peapod.  One skein of each was plenty.

CJ's baby blanket on a spring day in the park.